Tamil Nadu, once considered a safe state for women, recorded a rise of more than 25% in the incidence of rape in 2013 with 923 cases against 737 in 2012.

Opposition members on Wednesday attempted to pillory the government in the assembly with statistics from the home department on crimes against women, but chief minister J Jayalalithaa said several of the 923 cases were actually instances of elopement and consensual sex that police recorded as rape.
“In some cases, the girls were minors and in some others the women pressed rape charges when the men refused to marry them,” Jayalalithaa said. “However, all cases are investigated with earnestness and senior officers of the rank of SP and DIG oversee investigations and prosecution.” Of the 923 cases of rape, 425 involved consensual sex but police filed cases of rape after the women lodged complaints, embittered by the souring of the relationships, the chief minister said. At least 84 instances were actually breach of trust, with men reneging on the promise of marriage, and police filed 53 rape cases that investigations revealed were not rape but molestation and sexual harassment, Jayalalithaa said. “Only 332 cases involved violence and force,” she said. Instances of domestic violence against women are also up by 25% from 2012 to 2013, from 1,965 to 2,471, but the chief minister attributed this to women increasingly acquiring the courage to lodge complaints.

Jayalalithaa said her government was committed to ensuring that women were safe and said she wanted the state to be free of sexual assault. Tamil Nadu, she said, had a lower rate of crime against women

than many other states and police act swiftly on complaints of sexual assault, showing no leniency.

“The number of crimes against women, especially dowry deaths, sexual abuse and molestation has reduced,” she said. In 2013, the state registered 118 dowry deaths, a drop of 28.48% from 2010, and recorded a drop of 51% in cases sexual abuse over the same period. The chief minister said there had been a decrease of 9.54% in cases of molestation from 2010 to 2013.

Police registered 305 cases under the Dowry Prohibition Act in 2013, up from 199 in 2010.